Out of the mix....

As things stand today, Carlos Delfino and Jason Maxiell are out of the main rotation. Maxiell, who has played well, will still see situational minutes, usually when the team needs an energy boost or against a small lineup. Delfino, well, it continues to be a struggle for him.

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And that is it for Maxiell. No reasoning, no more info. He's back to the bench, and in my opinion, that is the death-knell for Amir Johnson getting any burn this year as well.

How can anybody argue that Delfino should get more minutes? Based on what? If it were me, I would play Ron Dupree. At least with Dupe, you know you are going to get energy. You know he's going to fly around and try to make things happen. Whatever errors he makes will certainly be errors of aggression. And I will tell you what, watching him in practice, Dupe has really improved his shooting stroke. I don't know if he really likes the feel of the new basketball or what, but he's draining shot after shot and winning a lot of the post-practice shooting games. Doesn't mean anything until he does it in games, I know, but I am telling you, he's working on his shot and it's improving.

My opinion, Delfino isn't going to make it through the year here. My guess is that he gets thrown into any and every trade package Joe Dumars puts together. Now, as far as I know, Joe isn't looking to put any trade packages together any time soon. It's too early. But if it gets to that point soon after the new year, Delfino will be on the block.

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Delfino, Delfino, Delfino. Why does Joe draft foreign players if they don't have Pistons DNA? Don't get me wrong, Memo, Nowitzki and Gasol are all similar finesse players, particularly when they first arrived.

The international talents with Pistons-esque DNA are guys like Nocioni and Ginobili.

Speaking of which...

And by the way, for those keeping score, Tony Ronzone, the Pistons much-celebrated international scout, is now 1-5. The one victory (Mehmet Okur, who is now approaching All-Star status with Utah). The five losses (Delfino, Darko Milicic, Zeljko Rebraca, Ratko Varda and Andreas Glyniadakis). I am probably being a little harsh, since the jury is still out on Milicic and Glyniadakis, and Rebraca came up with the heart problems. Still, it's 1-5 in my blog.

He sure ain't pulling punches or following the company line here... I got a feeling this will be a long thread. I wonder where he got the info on Jmax & Delfino being delegated to the bench... not playing them would be too soon IMO... especially with what we saw fron Brahma in the preseason. Let's not overreact until we see if this happens.

He sure ain't pulling punches or following the company line here... I got a feeling this will be a long thread. I wonder where he got the info on Jmax & Delfino being delegated to the bench... not playing them would be too soon IMO... especially with what we saw fron Brahma in the preseason. Let's not overreact until we see if this happens.

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I tend to think that was his own opinions and not official team news. He could be right. Probably is with Delfino. Delfino would have played last season if Flip liked him.

this is why i thought joe shoulda pushed for rose...told him 'listen, we'll do a dog & pony show for delfino and give him minutes for a week or two, but he's gonna be traded and you'll get the majority of minutes at backup.'

And that is it for Maxiell. No reasoning, no more info. He's back to the bench, and in my opinion, that is the death-knell for Amir Johnson getting any burn this year as well.

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i think we all agree that jmax has pistons dna. yet he's out of the rotation. why isn't everyone coming to the conclusion that he must not have pistons dna if he isn't playing. i think for the pistons being able to get on the court has much more to do with having pistons dna.

Delfino, Delfino, Delfino. Why does Joe draft foreign players if they don't have Pistons DNA? Don't get me wrong, Memo, Nowitzki and Gasol are all similar finesse players, particularly when they first arrived.

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delfino gets in and rebounds with the bigs. he blocks shots and he locks up nba stars. delfino plays unselfishly on offense and handles the ball well and plays his role even though it doesn't fit his style of play. i would say delfino has pistons dna. just because he doesn't accept that bs company line and he tells people what is on his mind doesn't mean he doesn't have it.

i think the question should be why does joe draft international players and bring in coaches that have no idea how to use or develop them.

May I interupt this thread for a completely non relavant brain blurp (Det News style)... If we don't get a shot blocker we are seriously degrading our transition game... Ok, back to we know the players better than than the coaching staff.

The lack of PT could also be a message to these guys... Carlos... wanna play?... how bout quit taking the lazy way out. Brahma... how many times did we say you need to pass out of a double team? Primative but effective. It's not a fact because of a random thought McCoskey had in his blog (our good ol Chris buddy... Roscoe)

Shame.... The few minutes per game that Max is on the floor are the best minutes of the game IMO. Then again, we wouldn't want to actually play a young player who likes to score in the paint. I guess as long as we've got Dice in there throwin' up 18 footers at a 15% clip we're good. Flip's got him in for his stifling D aparantely

Tough to say with Delfino... I still don't think he is being put in a situation to succeed. Inconsistant minutes AGAIN and he still never gets the ball in his hands to make a play. The one thing that he seems to have a knack for offensively. Every offensive set has him camped in one of the corners watching the clock tick down to see if he'll get a pass for a trey. It's a shame his rebounding, defending, and open-court abilities will go to waste (to another team likely). We'll get burned in that deal again as well I assume.

The lack of PT could also be a message to these guys... Carlos... wanna play?... how bout quit taking the lazy way out. Brahma... how many times did we say you need to pass out of a double team? Primative but effective. It's not a fact because of a random thought McCoskey had in his blog (our good ol Chris buddy... Roscoe)

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doubt that he is using lack of pt as motivation. it's more of the piston bs that a young player doesn't get minutes. what is dice doing to deserve minutes?? lindsey makes 1 good play in 5. flip murray sucks in general. lets not get on the starters lack of energy. if anybody should be called lazy it's the starters.

I slowly start to become a Flip (both Murray and Saudners)- Hater. I defended Flip Sr. all year last season, but his recent moves are simply dumb. Playing Tay at the 4 is ok, it's kind of experimental, but overplaying him is simply stupid. Same for CB, who is getting a huge amount of playing time as if last year's playoffs would have never happened. Delfino did ok for most of the games he played in and is out of the rotation. Same for JMax, who often was the only one to provide a spark from the bench. At the same time, Flip relies on Methusalem Hunter and Flip Murray, a player every team is happy to see him on the opposing squad. Yeah, he penetrates, but that's it. He had some games in which he did ok and some off nights- just like Fino. But why, for heaven's sake, is Murray set as primary backup and Delfino out of the rotation???

"It's just an adjustment he's going to need to try and make," Billups said, "because we don't have that kind of team. We've got a grind-out, hardworking team, so you can kind of stand out when you're not playing like that. I think that's a little bit what he's going through."

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could anyone tell me in which way Murray, who is getting Delfino's minutes, plays in that grind- out, hardworking manner, Billups is talking about? I guess Delfino simply can't stand all this lies any longer. He has seen how Milicic profited from leaving Detroit and probably wants do to the same. Something has to change, I hate seeing guys deliver somewhere else that don't get no PT over here.

Flip is playing a bench alright. But what's the value in playing guys that can't be built around. Davis, Dice, Hunter, and Murray are for different reasons soon to be gone. Of them only Dice seems capable of an ocassional impact performance. By impact I mean a performance that makes the coach keep the starter on the bench much longer than planned. The kind of performance applauded by fans as the player heads back to the bench dog tired. We need to find out if Blaylock, Johnson, or Maxiel have that ability individually or as a unit. We lack an X factor.

I would think we (Pistons Management) should be particularly interested in Amir. His talent, size, mobility, age and pricetag brings to mind a possible Ben Wallace type of "Bang for the Buck" over the next 4 years. Not to point fingers but our free agent pickups have gotten progressively weaker.

I agree LP. We need to find out what we have. I'm wary of playing Johnson too much, simply because he is so talented, someone might chase him in free agency. While he is restricted, the only way we can match a very good offer would be to forfeit our Mid Level Exception. That means more bargain shopping next offseason.

We're probably going to shed one of Dupree/Flip Murray, and Dale Davis. The $4 million saved on Davis will be eaten up in raises to Tay, Rip, Nazr and Sheed.

And of course Mr. Big Shot will also get a substantial raise, meaning that next season may be the year this bench becomes Lindsey, Dice and a bunch of young fellas (couple incoming draft picks).